1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for feeding packages from a web of packages to a receptacle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide toys, novelties and the like in boxes, such as breakfast cereal boxes for the amusement of children. For sanitary and safety reasons it has become desirable to package such toys, novelties and the like in packages, typically cellophane or polywrap packages. To form the article containing packages, a web, comprising a tube of film, is formed around a line of articles. A sealing head then seals across the web at intervals between articles.
Two major types of packaging have been in use. The first is the four-sided seal where the web is sealed along both side longitudinal edges to form the tube of film and is also sealed transversely at intervals with the result that individual packages have four seals. Second is the bottom crimp seal where a single central longitudinal seal is formed along the back of the web to form the tube of film; individual packages then have three seals: the central longitudinal seal and two transverse seals.
It is relatively easy to provide a conveyor for moving a web with two longitudinal side seals, however, it is considerably more difficult to convey webs having a bottom seal. It has been attempted in the past to convey these bottom crimp seal webs on vacuum belts but the webs tend to twist or corkscrew breaking the vacuum and making conveying difficult. With bottom sealed webs a knife is typically incorporated in the sealing head which cuts individual packages from the web after each tranverse seal is made; the individual packages are then manually dropped into cereal boxes. Such a process is labour intensive and costly.
The present invention seeks to provide conveying apparatus for handling webs particularly of the bottom crimp seal type.